diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 5a6c93d6493..7b75eda49a4 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -119,8 +119,13 @@ name = "parity"
 
 [profile.dev]
 
+[profile.test]
+lto = false
+opt-level = 3 # makes tests slower to compile, but faster to run
+
 [profile.release]
 debug = false
+lto = true
 
 [workspace]
 # This should only list projects that are not
diff --git a/scripts/gitlab/test-linux.sh b/scripts/gitlab/test-linux.sh
index 2854508bb56..6a3a1f0ac80 100755
--- a/scripts/gitlab/test-linux.sh
+++ b/scripts/gitlab/test-linux.sh
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ set -e # fail on any error
 set -u # treat unset variables as error
 
 FEATURES="json-tests,ci-skip-tests"
-OPTIONS="--release"
+OPTIONS=""
 #use nproc `linux only
 THREADS=$(nproc)